Wisnovsky says she received over 100 signatures from other parents within a week.

Despite getting support from both the school board and state senator Jeff Golden for the in-person grad plans, the petition, Wisnovsky says, was rejected Friday.

She thinks the governor ignored the petition.

“She didn’t look at it, she didn’t read the support from the community, she had made up her mind we weren’t going to do this,” Wisnovsky said.

State senator Jeff Golden who represents much of Jackson County, says the governor is doing her best.

“I do understand the disappointment and with that came a couple of comments that Governor Brown doesn’t care about the southern part of the state. I do wanna say a ‘no exceptions process’ is the opposite of that,” said Golden.

Undeterred, Wisnovsky says she will keep trying to get an in-person graduation ceremony approved.

“They’ve worked so hard, they’ve earned this right,” she said.

Golden says with the rejection, the state suggested school districts do online or drive-up graduations – something being planned across the state.

NBC5 News reporter Mariah Mills is a Medford native. She graduated from the University of Oregon with a Bachelor’s Degree in journalism. She also minored in sociology.

In school, she covered Oregon athletics for the student-run television station, Duck TV. When she’s not reporting, she’s reading, hiking and rooting for her favorite teams, the Seattle Seahawks and the Oregon Ducks.